Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of coolers and more particularly to an active cooling system for transport of body fluids and organs.
Description of Related Art
Blood products, tissues, and/or organs, must be maintained at a narrow temperature range in order to ensure viability. Temperatures less than 0° Celsius will damage these products due to the intracellular crystallization of water. Elevated temperatures increase the risk of bacterial proliferation causing life-threatening transfusion reactions such as septic shock and even death. It is therefore imperative that such products be maintained at a storage temperature of 1-6° Celsius and transport temperatures of 1-10° Celsius. While there are insulated box systems designed to maintain these products in a cool environment, there is no product on the market that will constantly monitor the temperature ensuring this parameter is maintained.
HemoTemp® II stickers have been used to determine if the blood product was out of the acceptable temperature range during transport. If the product was out of temperature, it is not used and ultimately wasted. While this may prevent adverse results from the inadvertent transfusion of an “out-of-temp” blood product or organ, it results in a costly waste of an expensive and precious resource.
The present invention overcomes these problems through use of an innovative combination of an electronically monitored cooling system that maintains a constant temperature within acceptable ranges, monitors temperature changes, and advises the use of any deviation from the pre-determined temperature range to prevent harmful swings in temperatures. The present invention may be used for organs and other tissue may be used for anything perishable and/or requiring temperature/humidity controlled environment including pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs.